180 Kerala Muslims ready for jihad

The portion of the statement given by Shabbir Ahammed Tali that refers to 180 Keralites willing to join the Jihad brigade.

B. Sreejan, 18 Mar 2009

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A terror brigade of 185 Keralites was selected by the Lashkar- e-Toiba and provided preliminary training at camps conducted in various centres in Kannur and Ernakulam. The Special Investigation Team probing the terror link to Kerala obtained this shocking piece of information from three Kashmiri youngsters.

Yasin, Fayaz, Shakeer alias Rahim and Fayiz who were killed in encounters with police in Kashmir and Abdul Jabbar, who had escaped the scene, constituted the pilot team sent by Kerala terror gurus to Kashmir.

These three youngsters took part in the terror camp organised by LeT in Kupwara and Dorusa forest areas in Kashmir during October last year, along with the five-member team from Kerala. The Lashkar camp had 17 members, including seven Pakistanis and three Kashmiris.

“The Malayalis joined the camp in the second week of September.

Shakeer alias Rahim was their leader. He could speak Urdu,” said Fiaz Ahammed.

According to Sajad Ahammed Reshi, the five Keralites, who had attended the terror training, wanted to go to Pakistan and get advanced training in weaponry. “Their plan was to go back to Kerala after being trained in Pakistan and engage in terrorist and anti-national activities,” he deposed before the police.

Shabbir Ahammed Tali told the police that 180 more youngsters were waiting in Kerala after the preliminary training to join Jihad. “One Ustad had indoctrinated them,” said Tali.

The SIT officers had crosschecked this information with Fiaz Ahammed and Reshi who said they had also known it. The police guess that the Ustad they were referring to was Haji Ustad alias Thadiyantavide Nazir Haji, who is absconding.